Angela Bassett is one, if not the best, leading African-American
actress today. She has played so many well-known historical figures
from Betty Shabazz, to Katherine Jackson to her Oscar nominated
role as Tina Turner. When a film like ďThe ScoreĒ comes around,
and the female role is limited, but the leading male cast is an
all-star of thespians, the producers of the film couldnít go wrong
when they chose Bassett. Angela shares her thoughts on the film
with blackfilm.com.

WB: Can you talk about your character and the role she played
opposite De Niro?

AB: Sheís his love interest. He genuinely cares about her, and
for her. Theyíve had an understanding for quite a while, but they
are ready to take it to the next level, to the next stage, but that
requires changes to be made in his life. Itís a dangerous
profession and she says ďI donít want to talk to you through glass
or Iíll probably visit you at the cemetery leaving flowers.Ē Itís
up to him, and I love him, but everyone has to make a decision
about their life and he figures it out. She knows just enough, but
not too much. It changed a little because initially she knew
nothing. There were changes in the script so as it all settled down
and we see it today, she knows. I think she was aware of the kind
of work he was into but not the intricacies, but that was probably
by choice, and because the type of man he is. He doesnít tell all
he knows or shows all his cards and thatís what keeps it really
interesting and tense.

WB: Was it easy to work with De Niro? Is he very intense?

AB: I think it depends on the role that heís doing or the scene
and our scenes were really comfortable when he jokes and plays, and
when he does his thing, heís just absolutely charming. When he
laughs and when he opens up and gets really warm, and youíre
playing opposite him, you really do laugh for real as opposed to
thinking that it is an easy moment and Iím supposed to go ha-ha.
When he does his thing, youíre there, which is nice because itís
not like that all the time. Heís one of the best.

WB: Who brought this role to you and why did you decide to take
it?

AB: My manager called me up and my agents approached the
producers. They got all the scripts, read the scripts and
approached the director Frank Oz and he said yes. So they called me
back and said I had an offer. I didnít have to meet the director
because he was familiar with my work and they were very open to the
idea. So then I had to meet De Niro.

WB: What was that like?

AB: Iím glad we did that because I would have been nervous. If
you show up the first day and now youíre supposed to be
boyfriend/girlfriend and intimate, I would have been nervous.
Because we met a few weeks before shooting, that sort of broke the
ice. You get the call and you meet him in the lobby of the place at
this time. They told me to meet him at 2:15 pm and I was there in
20 minutes.

WB: Will you do anymore stage work?

AB: I hope so. I donít have any plans right now. A friend of
mine is starting an arts festival in England. I wonít even say the
name of it because I donít know much. I have a friend there whoís a
barrister and another friend who went to the Yale Drama school with
me and they are starting it and they want me and Courtney (B.
Vance) to do something, maybe like Boesman and Lena.

WB: Is that really going to happen?

AB: Yeah, itís happening, starting April 2002.

WB: You didnít have any scenes with Ed Norton. Did you connect
with him being that you both went to the Yale Drama School?

AB: Yeah. We went to dinner. We would meet at script meetings,
sit down and talk about our characters, about the story and the
arc, but yeah we had a nice time together.

WB: What were your feelings when you read that Marlon Brando
would be in the film?

AB: None. Really. I donít know. Interesting. Probably
interesting. I mean you donít see a lot of him. You have memories
of him. It has been a long time. So, I donít know. I was hoping for
something good and it turned out quite wonderful. There was one
point where I had a scene with him where I would have been nervous.
The scene is where I walked in on Brando and I had a little
exchange with him. The scene really didnít make sense. It was as if
I had more info and I was telling his character... It just did not
make sense even to me, for that to happen. This guyís girlfriend
saying something about her manís business to him. I think we all
knew that was wrong. So the scene wasnít shot.

WB: Were you skeptical to Frank Ozís style of directing
considering his background is mostly in comedies?

AB: I wondered for a bit but I would have to say honestly I was
very pleased to be in a film whether it was good or bad with De
Niro, Norton and Brando even if I donít have any scenes with them,
I thought it was pretty good company to keep. When you have good
actors. You can almost have a bad script and they can fool you. But
with good actors and a decent script, you canít go wrong. After
seeing the final product after all the edits, you sit there and say
to yourself ďIs that what we did?Ē

WB: How much time did you spend in Montreal?

AB: I enjoyed it. Itís French. Very French. Every other person
speaking French. Just interesting. Iíve been in Toronto before but
thatís like being in Brooklyn, NY. It was nice. I was here once for
2 days for the movie ďMusic of the heart,Ē so I didnít get a chance
to enjoy the city.

WB: Did you get to see Cassandra Wilson perform?

AB: No. We were working at the time. But I did get to go to a
number of festivals.

WB: Are you getting roles for black women as opposed to just
women?

AB: I think it goes both ways. I just did Rosa Parks. Itís
called the Rosa Parks story. Julie Dash directed it and it also
stars Peter Francis James, a New Yorker actor.

WB: Whatís next for you?

AB: Iím producing a Showtime piece called ďOur America,Ē about
young boys from Chicago who became journalists and they ended up
winning a Peabody ward. It was a story from National Public Radio,
and it made 60 minutes. Along with the Rosa Parks story, Iím
thinking about directing, but I know itís a lot of work and I
appreciate what directors do and I would like to be good at it. The
opportunity has presented itself 4 to 5 times and I usually said no
because of the script. At this time Iíve got enough projects to
work with.